Matt Calkins wrote sports columns for the Seattle Times for over a decade. He resigned yesterday. The reason is self-explanatory: he penned a piece about how keeping biological males out of women’s sports isn’t transphobic. He submitted it to his editors, but heard nothing back. Then, they said they would deep-six the piece because he didn’t let them know ahead of time what the topic was — he didn’t buy it. So, he’s now looking for a new home. His Substack seems to be where he’s dropping his new material, including the column his former editors buried.
Sports writer Matt Calkins resigned from the Seattle Times after he claims they refused to print his column on girls and women standing up against trans athletes in their sports.
— Jackson Thompson (@JackThompsonFOX) August 20, 2026
"All they said was that, 'You didn't tell us you were doing this in advance, uh, so we can't run… pic.twitter.com/2SKaLDK7xA
After 11 years as a sports columnist at the Seattle Times, I have decided to resign. It was entirely my choice, and it was not an easy one. The impetus was the Times declining to run a column I wrote from the perspective of two female student athletes who were opposed to…
— Matt Calkins (@Matt_Calkins) August 20, 2026
Give this man a follow. 🙏 https://t.co/KzpLmDWKwd
— XX-XY Athletics (@xx_xyathletics) August 21, 2026
Toward the end of last month, before the Seattle Storm hosted the Indiana Fever, I spoke to people attending a rally in support of Sophie Cunningham outside Climate Pledge Arena. The Fever guard had recently taken a stance against biological males competing in women’s/girls sports, and a few dozen folks showed up to express their gratitude for her position.
One of them was 16-year-old Ahnaleigh Wilson, who’d lost to a biological male in a track and field race in eighth grade and was holding a sign reading “Thank You Sophie for Speaking up for Girls!”
I didn’t know if I was going to write something at that point, but after she allegedly got cussed out by a Storm co-owner during the game, I felt like I had to weigh in.
One thing Wilson emphasized to me at the rally was that she wasn’t anti-trans. Another student-athlete named Frances Staudt — who said she’s endured daily verbal abuse after refusing to play against a biological boy in a basketball game — echoed Wilson’s sentiment.
[…]
I sent a draft after talking to my editor the morning of Friday, July 31, telling him there was no rush to run it. He told me later that day that he and others were looking at it, but that it wouldn’t be ready for Sunday’s paper. Monday night, I got an email saying that his boss was hoping to talk to the top two newsroom editors about it on Wednesday. No feedback had been given to me. Thursday afternoon, my editor informed me that it wasn’t going to run because I didn’t tell him I was doing this in advance. I didn’t buy this reasoning. If that were the case, the piece would have been killed on the spot, not passed through the hands of multiple editors over several days.
My response? To resign on the spot.
If you read what he submitted, that’s what caused a stir in that newsroom? How incredibly weak, folks.
Clay Travis should hire this guy.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Townhall's conservative reporting exposing the radical left and woke media? Support our work so we can keep bringing you the truth.
Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the Conversation
VIP members get the ability to comment on articles.